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Wild strawberry 

 

 

Around Midsummer there is much talk about wild strawberries and the places where they grow. Before that  we watch out for night frosts during the flowering time. But what is it about now?

 

Where wild strawberries grow we will find their green leaves until spring when the plants ”wake up”. Unguents, small as well as large (roe deer, red deer, even elks) search for them throughout the whole of winter because they know how valuable they are. In their home forests they know the good places for strawberry plants very well.

 

We draw attention to them for forest ramblers in autumn. It is nice to brew a cup of tea in a chilly autumn forest, and a handful of strawberry can be picked without damage to the plants. The tea  must be infused for about ten minutes but it is worth it. In the fresh leaves in spring there are even more of Vitamin C and D than in the fruits in summer. Likewise sugars, malic and citric acids, volatile oils and microelements, iron, cobalt, manganese, phosphorous …

 

This wealth of substances has not quite disappeared from the leaves even now, close to winter, and making tea from raspberry canes in the forest is not easier…